In the United States, doctors at the Northwestern Medicine medical center performed a groundbreaking surgery, during which 36-year-old Elizabeth Verle received a transplant of four organs at once. This was reported by Yahoo.
The patient from the town of Montezuma suffered from complications of cystic fibrosis—a hereditary condition that disrupts the functioning of glands responsible for secreting substances like mucus, digestive enzymes, and sweat.
The situation was complicated by the fact that her body had begun to reject a pair of lungs that were transplanted back in 2017. As a result, the woman required a second lung transplant, as well as the replacement of her liver and kidney due to developing multiple organ failure.
This procedure marked the first operation in U.S. history involving the transplantation of four organs, including a lung retransplant.
The complex surgical intervention lasted eight hours. According to specialists, Verle’s condition before hospitalization was assessed as critical. She was unable to breathe on her own and was dependent on life-support machines.
Suitable donor organs were found just two days after she was transferred to the intensive care unit. First, doctors performed the repeat lung replacement, and the following morning, they completed the work on the liver and kidney.
The results were astonishing—within just three weeks, the patient was discharged from the hospital.
“Before the operation, there was such heaviness in my chest that I couldn’t breathe. Almost immediately after the transplant, I felt like a new person,” Elizabeth joyfully shared.
She is now actively recovering, walking several miles a day and engaging in light athletics.
In total, only seven similar cases of simultaneous four-organ transplants have been documented in the United States. However, Elizabeth’s case is unique due to the repeat transplantation of lung tissue.
The woman plans to return home on July 17, where her 11-year-old son is waiting for her. According to doctors, without this innovative surgery, the patient would have had virtually no chance of survival.
Progressive respiratory failure and damage to other internal systems made her case one of the most severe in the center’s practice.
Now, Verle looks forward to a long and fulfilling life, thanks to the skill of the surgeons and the advancements in transplantology.
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